 Junipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae.
Juniper has long been associated with ritual cleansing. It was burned in temples as a part of the regular purification rites. There are several medicinal recipes that have survived in Egyptian papyri dating to 1550 BC. Folk medicine in central Europe used the oil extracted from the berries to treat typhoid fever, cholera, dysentery, tape worms, and other ills associated with poverty. according to legend, when the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus were fleeing from Herod into Egypt, they took refuge under a juniper bush. |
